D&D Miniatures

Miniatures have long been a nice enhancement option for D&D campaigns. You head down to the local hobby shop, pick out the figures that catch your eye or that you need to fill up the monster slots for your weekly campaign and voila, you have instantly clarified combat, movement, and scale. Miniatures generally are made from pewter and part of the fun is to paint your miniature however you wish. So, you want a green fire elemental or a fuchsia troll? Anything you wanted to experiment with was fine. And you can always throw your miniatures into a bucket of Pine Sol overnight and in the morning ninety percent of the paint would be stripped off giving you the opportunity to repaint particularly poorly finished or hideously ugly figs.

Miniatures have long been a nice enhancement option for D&D campaigns. You head down to the local hobby shop, pick out the figures that catch your eye or that you need to fill up the monster slots for your weekly campaign and voila, you have instantly clarified combat, movement, and scale. Miniatures generally are made from pewter and part of the fun is to paint your miniature however you wish. So, you want a green fire elemental or a fuchsia troll? Anything you wanted to experiment with was fine. And you can always throw your miniatures into a bucket of Pine Sol overnight and in the morning ninety percent of the paint would be stripped off giving you the opportunity to repaint particularly poorly finished or hideously ugly figs.

Enter D&D third edition. Initially, Wizards of the Coast released the Chainmail line of miniatures. These figs were reasonably priced, and they matched the pictures in the Monster Manual and PHB which added a sense of inclusion and familiarity. Still made of pewter, these figs were fun to paint and durable. Unfortunately, Wizards failed miserably to convert their new d20 system into a tabletop war game. Chainmail as a stand alone game was disappointing at best. New sets were not released quickly enough to compete with established wargames such as Warhammer 40K and the game relied far too heavily on an understanding of the D&D 3rd edition system to play. Most importantly, Wizards effectively abandoned the Chainmail project almost immediately after its launch.

Time rolls on and the new, shiny 3.5 edition rules surface. Miniatures are prominently displayed throughout the new rulebooks and combat and movement rules are specifically tailored to the use of miniatures. Unfortunately, the miniatures produced by quality companies like Reaper, arenï¿½t scaled exactly the same as the 3.5 rules call for. Neither are the Chainmail figures. Hasbro (who recently acquired Wizards of the Coast) begins advertising their upcoming D&D Miniatures line, an updated and ï¿½improvedï¿½ version of the Chainmail game that are scaled to match the 3.5 rules exactly. What an improvement! How could this possibly be a bad decision?

Upon the unveiling of the new D&D Miniatures most miniature fans were horrified. Instead of the reliable, unpainted pewter miniature standard the new figs were smaller, plastic, and pre-painted. The rules were not much different than the older Chainmail game that was abandoned, with Hasbro relying on the integrated marketing approach to keep sales up instead of offering something entirely new. And to add insult to injury, the miniatures are packaged in blind starter and booster packs, akin to Magic the Gathering cards. Most of the ï¿½newï¿½ miniatures were plastic copies of the older Chainmail figurines, meaning that DMs who had purchased the Chainmail figures, buying a package of new D&D miniatures might result in getting multiple copies of miniatures already owned.

When browsing miniatures for a campaign, very few DMs are interested in paying for a box of random figs. More often a specific monster is needed for a weekly campaign and under the Magic-style marketing scheme you must buy package after package to find what you actually need. Alternately you can jump on E-bay and bid on the rare figs like Mind Flayers and Dragons that are averaging $10-25 per figurine. Bear in mind, this is for the cheap, plastic pre-painted minis.

Fortunately, there are much better alternatives to the D&D miniature line. Warhammer 40K is an established tabletop wargame. Warhammer has its own drawbacks with a starting warband costing upwards of $300, a hefty price tag for starting into a hobby. Rakham, a French company, has released its Confrontation miniature game in English. The quality of their miniatures is very high and the rules system is streamlined. A Confrontation warband can be started for about $100. Both companies package their miniatures in clear packaging so a prospective customer can see what the miniatures look like. D&D miniatures are now packaged in sealed boxes with no indication of what you are getting.

For the role-playing gamers, Reaper miniatures offer high-quality pewter miniatures. While they are not matched to the artwork from the core rulebooks for D&D, Reaper miniatures look good, are fun to paint, and are reasonably priced. Best of all, they come in clear blisters allowing you to see exactly what youï¿½re getting before buying.

Ultimately, Hasbro erred in their handling of the D&D Miniatures. Neither wargamers nor dungeon masters are likely to pick up a pack of random miniatures. Wargamers and dungeon masters alike typically prefer to paint their own figurines, and the plastic miniatures feel flimsy to the touch. Additionally, getting just the right miniature is either a hassle or a large expense. Such a shame considering the talents of the miniature sculptors and artists employed by Wizards of the Coast.

I'd like to be the first to make a comment on this article, and thus, it shall be on topic, to make a change, and appease the big metal hand in the sky known as Morbus Iff.

As much as I love the D&D miniatures, I think that they look like they were painted in thirty seconds by a blind chimp, with his right foot. Even I could paint them better, for god's sake. That said, they are a useful gaming aid, lousy paint job or no lousy paint job.

I posted a reply on my blog, http://geeked2.typepad.com/geeked_squared/index.rdf, but thought I would comment here as well. While i do agree with some of your points I must say that their are many people in the world who dont have the time, talent or inclanation to paint minatures for RPG's or otherwise. The prepainted minis are a blessing for those people.

I wonder why you dont compare the D&D miniatures to their closest competition and closet form facotr, Mage Knight? Certainly, there is more to compare between those two than either Warhammer or magic the Gathering.

I have certainly enjoyed painting them in the past - a long time ago, and even recently I started doing a couple as part of The Artist's Way. But I realized quickly that the fun I had from painting and collecting minis was not the same kind of fun I had from using them in my games.

It always seemed that we didn't have the right minis for the games, or enough of them - especially for herds of goons - and so we ended up subbing in plastic playing pieces from other games, and plasticene gobs - which worked well enough.

So, with minis - we no longer care really about "collecting" them, or painting them either. The only minis we tend to use anymore are for the PCs. Everything else gets a monster token or plastic.

As I look at the prefab adventures from Hasbro - such as Speaker in Dreams, and some others - I find that they more often than not lack the quality of those found in Dungeon magazine. If they are going to make them (and I'm not sure if they do anymore) why not spend a little more money to make some art (as in Tomb of Horrors), or some counters that are keyed to each room? It would certainly give them an advantage over other modules, and today's software can provide very realistic looking pics.

Yeah the figs are really bad and badly painted. I go Reaper and warlord for PC's and important NPC's myself.

For hordes counters are the best as they are cheaper, more versatile, easier to carry and tend to last longer.

The miniature handbook is a good buy in itself by the way, even if you don't plan to play miniature war games. The mass combat rules are adequate and most feats, classes, spells and prestige classes fit quite well into most campaigns (the healer makes for a great cohort or henchman, so does the warmage, while the Favoured soul and Marshal make great PC's).
The book is a good buy, the collectible figurine part of the game is a big rip off though.

Oh and once again, Speaker in Dreams was one of the worst modules ever.
Neph, Sword and Sorcery publish modules with counters and nice cut outs like the Ogres' Pact. Their advendures are also quite enjoyable (well most of them at least) and they offer good support on the net too.

There are alot of modeling and casting kits you can buy. A freind of mine uses them extensively to recreate Epic minis that are out of print. He gets minis that, once painted, are indistinguishable from the originals.

I havn't put money into minis in a long time but I've been thinking about incorperating them into games for a visual aid again. I'll be starting a Twilight 2000 game soon and I plan on using army men for minis. I got a huge Russian army for only $11 including tanks, armored vehicles and scenery.

I run a D&D game, and use a gridded mat for dealing with the combat. This lets attacks of opertunity and cleave and all be resolved well.

I use the new plastic prepainted figures. A blind chimp could paint better then me, and, frankly, expensive pewer figures are right out. I've bought a couple of boxes and just use whatever monster is close and tell the players what it is.

I collect Games Workshop's Lord Of The Rings range, so I can find a few good models to represent PCs in the models of that range. Legolas, when painted in different colours, make a great elven ranger, Gimli can be given numerous different paintjobs for a generic dwarf, and Men Of Rohan are useful for villagers. Moria Goblins are very useful, because to me, they look how goblins are supposed to look, and Wildmen Of Dunland make great barbarians.

As I said in the last article on this topic, the hobby stores in my area don't carry Reaper minis. Maybe the release of these ugly, plastic ones will get gamers clamouring for the Reaper line again, and it will start showing up locally?

I can only hope; however, I think by then I'll be VeryOldTimer if not AncientOldTimer. =( Such is the sad state of affairs in my gaming community.

Been gaming since the 1980s and don't even want to think of how much I've spent on the over three thousand miniatures bought over the decades. I couldn't agree more about the horrible way the rubber and blind buy miniatures have tainted my attitude. I used to use miniatures like and addict but have given up on the miniature market. Aahhh I’ve gone to paper markers for new units. At least that way you get what you pay for.

For those interested in carving mins, I would recommend conversions as an easier step. If you can get the hang of weapon swaps, head swaps, and the like, as often as not you can cobble the miniature you want together from pieces of other pre-existing minis.

It's true that no miniature collection is likely to be able to handle every encounter in a campaign, but I'd rather use a mini than a generic marker anytime. The fact that the party's minis are fully painted and look great - in addition to the fantastic scenery my players are so fond of creating - gives a lot of depth to the game. I don't find it inhibits player imaginations; quite the reverse. My experience has been that minis and scenery promote my players' imaginations and facilitate their engagement with the game.

I'm new to DMing and I bought about four or five boxes of the new D&D minis. I don't really have the time to do any painting myself and so far I've been able to do the "this guy is close enough" for most battles.

I do wish that there was some official way to get some uncommon or rare versions. I suppose buying the common and uncommon full sets from some of the outfits on Ebay is a better way to go than buying boxes of random bits.

Overall, however, I cannot argue with this article. If they ran about $1 to $5 each and were prepackaged so you knew what you were getting, it would be a much better product.

Hasbro & WOTC are using the D&D name much in the way the nitwits who were running it after Gygax was pushed out were. TSR was on the verge of collapse because it was run like a limitless cash cow. Hasbro wants to milk the coffers of gamers while putting out the cheapest product possible. They don't care about gamers. Plastic miniatures are cheaper to manufacture than metal ones. Casting a generic line is also cheaper than creating unique minitures. All about the bottom line: money.

When 3E was released, WOTC claimed on the sourcebooks would be put out. You saw how quickly they began rereleasing other books & settings, and how quickly a "new" version was put out in v3.5. D&D is under complete corporate control now, and must bring in the cash. I won't buy any of their products; 1st edition still works beautifully in my group.

While I hear what you are saying on source books - (which is why I've stopped buying them, rather than replacing them). I'm not really with you on the minis.

Collecting and painting minis isn't remotely the same thing as playing D&D - even though minis are used in D&D. With finite time these days, I'd play a game with paper counters, rather than spending time painting minis.

I prefer to use the minis that I prepared when I was a kid. But I have no intention of spending more money and exhorbinant amounts of time finding and preparing figures which may or may not be used in my adventures. I'm more likely to crack open a boardgame and pull out a bunch of toy plastic solders, or to use plasticene. So, if someone wanted to sell an adventure module along with a prefab set of plastic minis covering every encounter - I'd love it. But they don't really do that.

It IS a good marketing idea - I think Cocytus. The problem seems to be that the folks at Hasbro are more intent on selling consoles (source books) than they are in selling quality games to be played on those consoles (modules - but better modules).

the problem with most corporation is that they don't realize just how good a quality product can be for them. Selling a module with all the minis you'd need may be an expensive proposition, but PEOPLE WOULD BUY IT! About half of the people on this forum have stopped buying the official miniatures because they're cheap plastic loads of mass-produced turd. That's half their customers Hasbro just lost, no matter how cheap they are to make! It sounds like an adventure-miniature bundle may be just what Hasbro needs.

the problem with most corporation is that they don't realize just how good a quality product can be for them. Selling a module with all the minis you'd need may be an expensive proposition, but PEOPLE WOULD BUY IT! About half of the people on this forum have stopped buying the official miniatures because they're cheap plastic loads of mass-produced turd. That's half their customers Hasbro just lost, no matter how cheap they are to make! It sounds like an adventure-miniature bundle may be just what Hasbro needs.

I have no problem buying cheap, mass produced goblins for my game. I'd get more play out of them than I would some lich-lord in finery.

The thing is, HASBRO and much of the rest of the industry is more focused on establishing a base world and rules set, and then expanding to new ones. They are in the publishing business - and with mini's, they are in the collecting and modelling business.

The problem is that neither of those businesses are really in the GAMING business. Instead of focusing outward on what else they can produce for people to collect and read, it would be interesting to model a business on what actually helps people play more, and play better.

I'm more interested in a world-setting that is small and local, rather than vast. I'd much rather crappy minis that I will use in my game, rather than minis that I will need to paint and that will collect dust in a display case. Painting and collecting minis is not gaming. And publishing more source books is less useful to regular gameplay than publishing more, and better modules. Gone are the days when you could track a single story through 6 or nine modules. Imagine that- tied to a small campaign world, like an island, where players make a difference. And with excellent art for every encounter, and minis for every scenario they contain. I'd buy it, if it was good (and Dragon Mountain was NOT good - not even finished, if you ask me).

I would like to preface my statement by stating that I am not a purist D&D freak or anything like that, I'm just a guy that got started in playing 3rd ed. D&D with friends. Having said that let me tell a little story:

I am married and have a son that is 7 years old. He has grown up in a house where dad plays PC/Console games with him and mom isn't really into much in the realm of gaming. She likes board games but had a really bad experience that ruined ever playing D&D with her ever again. I finally convince her that she, my son, and my 12 year old nephew would play D&D and I would run a module. I told her to make it more interesting for her and the kids, miniatures could be used. She gave me 20 bucks and sent me off to the store to try and buy three miniatures for her and the kids.

So I go to the store and come across the Harbinger set of miniatures for D&D. I figured 16 for 20 bucks doesn't sound half bad as I get a playing grid, some neat and cheap tiles, a d20 and some guys. After taking them home, I realize that after reading the manual, this could be something that they might enjoy all together. The way it was worded, it more or less took a learning curve for playing standard D&D that would take hours, down to playing the game in a matter of a half hour. I explained to the wife that we'd need maybe three more packs. So I got them, some more d20s and set back off to home.

We got home, set them out, and played. Bottom line, my kid loved it, my wife went from dispising D&D to now considering actually playing in a group again, and now I have something fun to do with my wife and kids on a Sunday afternoon.

On a side note, after going in last Friday to my local gaming store to buy the miniatures book, I was talking to the shop owner and was able to talk him into being able to sell more units if he simply started opening boxes and to sell creatures in a case for people. We spent 2 hours and set up a nice pricing system where it was comparable to prices seen on ebay for rares and yet cheap enough that I could pick up 10 goblin sneaks for 5 bucks to fill out a niche if I needed to. He ended up selling the book to me for half price. I went in on Sunday and found that about 40% of the miniatures had been sold and that he made more money off selling the individuals than he would have selling the kits.

After reading through the miniatures handbook and buying about 100 more miniatures, the family and I have a wonderful time playing in a simplified dungeon crawl where their job is to make it through 10 dungeon levels, get magic items, defeat the evil guys, help the good guys, and most importantly have fun.

So as my review of these products here is my advice: Are you a newcomer to D&D and want to try to understand playing the game in a more simplified manner? This would be for you. Do you have a gaming group or DM one and want to take a break from a campaign for a quick dungeon crawl adventure? This is really convienent. Are you a pewter miniature purist looking for collectables? This isn't for you. Are you playing this game with teens or have kids/pets in the house? This might be for you. Are you looking for something more than paper markers yet don't have the time/talent/carefulness to handle fragile miniatures? This is for you.

Feel free to email me all you like on this. I really think that Hasbro got what they set out to do. Target a market of families that want to try a game that is simplified, easier to learn and can lead into more sales for wizard in the regular D&D campaigns.

I would like to preface my statement by stating that I am not a purist D&D freak or anything like that, I'm just a guy that got started in playing 3rd ed. D&D with friends. Having said that let me tell a little story:

I am married and have a son that is 7 years old. He has grown up in a house where dad plays PC/Console games with him and mom isn't really into much in the realm of gaming. She likes board games but had a really bad experience that ruined ever playing D&D with her ever again. I finally convince her that she, my son, and my 12 year old nephew would play D&D and I would run a module. I told her to make it more interesting for her and the kids, miniatures could be used. She gave me 20 bucks and sent me off to the store to try and buy three miniatures for her and the kids.

So I go to the store and come across the Harbinger set of miniatures for D&D. I figured 16 for 20 bucks doesn't sound half bad as I get a playing grid, some neat and cheap tiles, a d20 and some guys. After taking them home, I realize that after reading the manual, this could be something that they might enjoy all together. The way it was worded, it more or less took a learning curve for playing standard D&D that would take hours, down to playing the game in a matter of a half hour. I explained to the wife that we'd need maybe three more packs. So I got them, some more d20s and set back off to home.

We got home, set them out, and played. Bottom line, my kid loved it, my wife went from dispising D&D to now considering actually playing in a group again, and now I have something fun to do with my wife and kids on a Sunday afternoon.

On a side note, after going in last Friday to my local gaming store to buy the miniatures book, I was talking to the shop owner and was able to talk him into being able to sell more units if he simply started opening boxes and to sell creatures in a case for people. We spent 2 hours and set up a nice pricing system where it was comparable to prices seen on ebay for rares and yet cheap enough that I could pick up 10 goblin sneaks for 5 bucks to fill out a niche if I needed to. He ended up selling the book to me for half price. I went in on Sunday and found that about 40% of the miniatures had been sold and that he made more money off selling the individuals than he would have selling the kits.

After reading through the miniatures handbook and buying about 100 more miniatures, the family and I have a wonderful time playing in a simplified dungeon crawl where their job is to make it through 10 dungeon levels, get magic items, defeat the evil guys, help the good guys, and most importantly have fun.

So as my review of these products here is my advice: Are you a newcomer to D&D and want to try to understand playing the game in a more simplified manner? This would be for you. Do you have a gaming group or DM one and want to take a break from a campaign for a quick dungeon crawl adventure? This is really convienent. Are you a pewter miniature purist looking for collectables? This isn't for you. Are you playing this game with teens or have kids/pets in the house? This might be for you. Are you looking for something more than paper markers yet don't have the time/talent/carefulness to handle fragile miniatures? This is for you.

Feel free to email me all you like on this. I really think that Hasbro got what they set out to do. Target a market of families that want to try a game that is simplified, easier to learn and can lead into more sales for wizard in the regular D&D campaigns.

Well, here's my two bits on the subject. Let's start out by saying I've been playing RPGs for 24 years. I've published professionally in the industry. I'm a very good miniatures painter (www.paintingzombie.com if you don't believe me...)

And I very much think the D&D plastic minis kick ass.

Why?

1. They're cheap. Yeah, okay, maybe if you have to buy 6 boxes of the figs to get the one mind flayer you need runs the price up, but then you also get all that other random stuff to use. Also, if you wanted to, you can drop $10 on ebay and but the same fig if you're that desperate.

2. I don't have to paint "grunts." Face it, I like painting figs, but I'd rather put a lot of time into a few PCs for my players that don't paint, than paint up two dozen goblins for them to kill. And again, I can buy those goblins for about $0.50 each in bulk on Ebay. Heck if I had a local store that sold singles, I'd probably have bought even more!

3. Finally, there's the "stuck in a rut" factor. I like using minis that look like what they are. I don't like putting down a bunch of goblins and telling the players "okay, these are really dire weasels" or whatever. Now what this also means, is that when I throw out a complex combat, I tend to reach for just the figs I've got.
With the random sort, I ended up with all sorts of wierd monsters that I'd never used before. I've found myself designing encounters into my storylines based on figures I've not got which I never would have bought before.
Not "forcing" them into a story where they don't make sense.... but more designing adventures to take advantage of all the new options I've got.

So, for what it's worth, I think these are really cool, and forsee myself buying more of them down the line.

The miniatures serve a purpose, and though sold in random boosters, they are the hotest thing for WOTC since Pokemon. They are selling out left and right- so people are buying them. I own a store and I'm constantly asked for pre-painted miniatures. People don't have the time or skill to paint. It's a major drawback for many and I'm surprised it took this long for WOTC to offer something like this. Now with sites like http://www.rpgshop.com selling individuals at a reasonable price you can buy common goblins or kobalts or orcs to use for only $1 each. What's wrong with that?

To tell the truth, I got into minis about a year ago for my d&d game. I bought $200 worth of reapers and i painted them to the best of my limited ability.

But now I buy only D&D minis.
Why -- for all the complaints I see about cheap plastic, D&D minis don't bend out of shape, break and the paint doesn't chip. 90% of my reapers look like crap because I travel and can't afford to individually bubble wrap them when not in use.

Not to mention D&D minis are less expensive, and they are painted better than most people can manage. Which is difficult because for 8 months of the year
I live in student conditions and even If I had the space, I have none of the paints or other expensive materials required to paint a set.

I used to be litterally addicted to the purchase of magic cards -- seriously I had a frequent buyer discount at my local comic shop -- And I would hesitate to compare these minis to Magic. Whereas 99% of the magic cards I bought went into a box and are never used, I can find a use for every single mini I have bought.

D&D minis will probably outgrow magic for this reason, When I buy them, I don't feel ripped off.

If you don't like them, don't buy them.
Hasbro has found a marketable strategy that seems quite successful. Complaining that they are running their corporation like a corporation "grubbing for money" is non-sensical. Its the base root of Capitalism upon which our society is built. If you don't like Capitalism then go to a communist country. I just hope that when you get there, you aren't expecting the exotic luxuries such as minis and D&D that we all know every communist nation devotes public resources too...

Personally I HATE the D&D miniatures. They're cheap at face value, but if you actually use your head, they're more expensive than, say, LOTR. Let's assume you want Goblins. A buck each, you said, if you bought them off EBay? Plus shipping? Well, you can get the LOTR Moria Goblins box, 24 goblins for 16 bucks, armed with various weapons. Orcs? They've got those too. Kobolds are a bit more expensive because they're not in LOTR - go with Reaper's Kobold Gang blisters, 5 Kobolds for like 7 or 8 dollars. A bit more expensive than D&D minis there, but they're MUCH higher quality.

You do know what quality is, right? Oh...wait...no you play D&D 3.5. Nevermind.

I enjoy the new D&D Miniatures because they are prepainted. I'm not up for painting anything. Color is nice but I whouldn't even care to paint pewter minis. The miniatures do - on the whole - look nice. Granted, they are cheap plastic. Some arrive bent and the painting is far from perfect. Really more work could be done here but I think they are fine for the job. Also, I like getting a random pack of 8 'cause its exciting like opening a pack of trading cards (or Magic cards even) 'cause you never know what you're gonna get. Granted, this does hurt their intended purpose (for most people) but does endear it more to its own individual game. Which I am not particularly interested in anyway. I find them cool to collect besides.

I'll have to agree almost wholly with the initial comments. It is a shame that a game such as D&D; a game built around options; has limited gamers to only one miniature option, plastic and painted.

I think it's great for those people who can't make the time commitment in painting their own miniatures, but DMs must be allowed to structure their worlds with the miniatures they want. The blind packing scheme is a sham.

I want pewter miniatures. I want a dice bag with dice that look like precious gems. I don't want marketing shemes. I want high quality products that compliment my imagination.

There are easily a dozen companies out there that make great pewter miniatures at a fair price, and several more that make GORGEOUS miniatures at an exorbitant price.

If you want them pre-painted, I can point you in the direction of several professional minis painters. Yeah, I said professional... you send them the money, they go buy the minis you want painted and paint them according to your instructions. Costs a bundle, but when you want the best you have to pay for it.

Stop whining that ONE company isn't selling the product YOU want, when you can get it elsewhere.

Hey,just because you either don't have the time or inclination to paint doesn't mean that the DnD minis are any good. It's a horrid waste of money. Wizards has and always will be a money grubbing good for nothing company whose only intent is to rob those who enjoy the game. That's my opinion. That they provide a service though, is a fact. Minis are nice to have and, let's face it, time consuming to paint, so we appreciate what little help they give us poor gamers. Unfortunately, your views on moving to a communist country are both asinine and childish. Please, please try to be more civil, remember just because you have a differing opinion doesn't mean you have to be hostile.

i can not get over the bytching on this board. i paint mini's, not well but to relax when i have some rare free time. i collect d&d mini's to use in games and i like them. i do not buy on ebay and rarely buy singles not that i would not just that very few stores sell them.
i am a strong believer in suporting GAMING stores not web sites that sell for pure profit and no love of GAMEING.
i think there is somthing to be said for both the paintable minis and the plastic one. each are good and bad in their own way.
i wish i was as lucky as the guy who gets to play d&d minis with his wife and kids then i would not have the headache of searching and searching and searching and searching for people who enjoy gaming.
hasbro and wizards are not on my x mass card list and i have a bad taste from a lot of their marketing sceems but they are a corporation and the mighty buck rules them.
in the end it comes down to this simple thing. paintable minis are cool. plastic minis are cool. gaming rocks. everything else is just a reason to bytch :)

I've actually always really really hated miniatures. I've never used them once in any campaign I've ever run in the last 300 years or so (though I have played in a campaign or two that used them). They always take away from the experience in my, um, experience.

I was getting into painting them though, at least for a little while. That interest passed after about 6 squinty little monthes. I'm that guy you know that gets into something and buys everything for it, even if they don't know they're going to like the hobby.

Long story short, I just moved and ended up giving away alot of minis and paint and stuff like that. My friend Brian is a hell of a painter, and his 3d scenery is even more amazing. Hopefully he'll make some use out of it all at his next Mordeheim game.

Being very much an old-school gamer and occasional wargamer, I've always had a fondness for miniatures, myself. We have gigantic hordes of lead minis in our group and I used to customise figurines for well-loved player characters.

I don't have the time to do so much of that nowadays, so my collection has stagnated for a while. But I have recently picked up the brush, bought a new set of paints and started work on a new batch of figures. It's the rediscovery of a forgotten pleasure. Very therapeutic, good for developing concentration and manual dexterity. For some reason I always listen to Uriah Heep when I'm painting. I don't know why, it's just one of my things.

Minis are not essential for a good game but I find it gives you something to focus on. We always have the figures for player characters out on the table even when the session involves no dice rolls at all and it's just pure RP.

The miniature handbook is a good buy in itself by the way, even if you don't plan to play miniature war games. The mass combat rules are adequate and most feats, classes, spells and prestige classes fit quite well into most campaigns (the healer makes for a great cohort or henchman, so does the warmage, while the Favoured soul and Marshal make great PC's). I've been thinking about incorperating them into games for a visual aid again. Scottsdale flooring